


Not Worth The Risk

by Skendo



Series: It's Magic! [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Hogwarts, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skendo/pseuds/Skendo
Summary: A Harry Potter and The Walking Dead crossoverIn which Carl discovers the perils of playing with sticks and a familiar face comes to the rescue.





	Not Worth The Risk

**Not Worth The Risk**

 

_A Harry Potter and The Walking Dead crossover_

 

Part of the ‘It’s Magic’ series

 

**_I do not own Harry Potter or The Walking Dead, those rights belong to JK Rowling, AMC, Fox and the comic book creators Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore respectively. I make no money from this writing, I write this purely for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) the enjoyment of others._ **

****

* * *

 

 

“I told you, it won’t work. The wood’s too wet.”

“Too wet?! It’s a heat-wave out here!”

“Yeah well, if you hadn’t of pulled it out of a swamp then maybe we could light the damn fire!”

“Quit yellin’ at me man, you said to get wood for the fire and I got wood, a whole pile of wood!”

“Dry wood! I said _dry_ wood.”

 

From across the cool fire pit, Carl studied the forms of the two men arguing. Their shouting getting louder and intense gestures with crude finger wagging getting more threatening by the minute. He sighed and dragged a stick through the dry mud under his feet. Ever since the fiasco at the CDC, everybody had been on edge with more and more fights and heated arguments breaking out between the group. They had lost Jim and Jacqui which had put most of the camp in a mood of mourning for a while, but now with food scarce and the ever increasing amount of walkers stumbling upon their makeshift camps, things weren’t looking great.

_Snap!_

A shooting pain on his hand broke his thoughts. _Great_. The now broken stick had thick blobs of blood and mud mixed in, slowing seeping in the brittle wood. He discreetly looked around for his Mom, she tended to over-react with little things like this, and wiped his hand on his trouser leg. He pulled a face as he gently tugged the splinted bits of the branch from the gash on the palm of his hand.

“Ouch, that looks sore.”

Carl looked up as a shadow blocked out the sun for a second before the person sat down next to him on the hard ground.

“Hey Harry, it’s nothing.” Carl dismissed the concern with a wave of his uninjured hand.

Harry smiled and reached over to inspect the damage anyway. “Nothing is nothing when you’re out in the wilderness.” He said as he turned Carl’s hand around so he could peer at the cut.

Carl frowned as he tried to understand what the black haired brit had said. “What?”

“I mean, when you are living in less than great conditions, like so.” Harry gestured at the camp around them with a flourish of the hand which was had not commandeered Carl’s injured one. “It’s important to not risk an infection. Even on the smallest of wounds.” He gave Carl a pointed look as he removed a splinter which the young boy had missed.

Carl felt his cheeks go red as he attempted to look nonchalant.

“Anyway,” Harry continued, “There’s no point in suffering with this when I can fix it in a jiffy.” He shot him a grin as he let go of Carl’s hand to reach for the small pouch which hung from his neck.

Carl couldn’t deny his childish glee when he saw Harry’s arm disappear into the incredibly small bag. He loved the casual displays of magic Harry did every now and then. He looked up to see if he could see Sophia. Finding her standing next to her mother, he caught her eyes and subtly nodded towards Harry’s disappearing hand. Her eyes widened in excitement and he bit back a laugh as she flashed across the camp to appear at his side.

“Ooh, what’s happening?” She asking in curiosity, kneeling down on the ground. Carol will be sure to reprimand her later for mucking up her clothes … again, Carl thought with an amused smile.

“Well, _somebody_ hurt his hand and left it to get infected and drop off in the midday sun.” Harry said distractedly as he shook the little bag gently in an attempt to find something.

Sophia spun her head around to look at Carl’s hand in alarm. She grabbed the wrong one and yanked it close to inspect.

“Ow!” Carl cried as he pulled his arm back and cradled it protectively against his chest. “That hurt!” He glared at the younger girl. “It’s not even that hand, and besides Harry is exaggerating.” He said waving the correct appendage in front of her.

“Yuck! Get it away!” She scrunched up her face as she blocked him from wiping blood and mud on her.

“Children, children, please cease these petty antics or you won’t get to see my magic trick.” Harry said in amusement.

Sophia stuck her tongue out at Carl in victory and he glared back in response.

They both directed their attention on Harry has he muttered to himself, still with no success in finding the mysterious object.

“Can’t you, you know, call it out or something?” Sophia asked timidly.

Harry paused and smiled in astonishment. “Well, well, aren’t you the little Hermione Granger then.” He said fondly.

Sophia smiled back in slight confusement. When Harry turned back to his bag she shot Carl a look but he shrugged his shoulders, also not understanding what Harry meant.

“ _Accio dittany_.” Harry called over the opening of the bag. All three of them sat still in silence as they waited. Clinking and clanging noises sounded from the little bag when suddenly something shot into Harry’s open palm. The children huddled around him as he slowly opened his hand. There sat a small pale bottle, the hot midday sun bouncing off the smooth curve of the glass.

“Right, hold out your hand.” Harry said as he sat up straight to face Carl.

Carl looked at the bottle wearily, suddenly feeling apprehensive. “It won’t hurt will it?” Not willing to surrender his injured hand yet.

Harry looked at him, “Not at all.” He promised. He held out his hand. “Do you trust me and my clever assistant over here?” He asked, smiling when he heard Sophia giggling lightly at his words.

Carl sighed and looked at his hand which had started to throb a little. “I guess so.” He said a bit despondently.

Harry gasped in mock cheer, “Did you hear that Soph? ‘ _I guess so_ ’, we should feel so honoured right now!” Sophia was set off again with peels of laugher which Carl struggled not to join in with.

“Alright, do your worst.” Carl admitted defeat as he threw his injured hand into Harry’s outstretched palm.

Harry sobered suddenly and looked at Sophia. “Ok, you have the most important job of all.” Sophia sat up straight and focused on Harry seriously. “You must keep Carl’s hand very still.”

She pulled a face. “I have to hold his hand?” She whined.

Carl saw the corners of Harry’s mouth twitch. “You have to keep _the patient’s’_ hand steady.” He emphasised. “I can’t do this without you Sophia.”

She mulled it over in her mind and seemingly came to a decision. “Just so his hand doesn’t fall off.” She said seriously, nodding to herself.

Carl opened his mouth to remind her _once again_ that his hand wasn’t actually going to fall off, but silenced himself when Harry shot him a look.

Harry cleared his throat. “Ready?” He asked. Seeing the two heads nodding, he flicked his wrist and suddenly out of thin air, his magic wand appeared.

“Ok, first I’m going to make sure that we’ve got all the splinters out before healing the wound, so I’m going to summon the pieces out. It’s important I don’t do this too fast, or an over excited piece may tear its way out of your hand. It won’t though.” He hurriedly added at Carl’s horrified expression, as he pointed his wand at the cut. “ _Accio splinters_.” He said gently, his brows furrowed in concentration.

At first Carl didn’t feel anything, then slowly he felt an odd tickle from under his skin. It didn’t hurt, but wasn’t exactly comfortable either. As his arm twitched a little, Sophia’s grip tightened slightly around his hand. Suddenly he saw something poke its head out of the open wound. It reminded Carl of a worm emerging from of the earth, he felt a little sick at the thought. With a sharp tug from the invisible string around the wand, a splintered piece of the stick came free and floated to the ground.

“Right, that’s done. We need to clean it now.” Harry continued to describe each spell he was using for his small muggle audience. “This spell is to clean the wound because if we heal it and there is some bacteria stuck inside, if may cause an infection. Which would be bad news, especially out here when we have limited medical supplies.”

“But wouldn’t magic fix the infection?” Sophia asked, her face scrunched up as she mulled the thought over in her mind.

Harry smiled at her fondly. “Magic fixes a lot of things, but it isn’t the answer every time.”

“Like the walker bites.” Carl inputted softly. “We couldn’t save Jim or Amy.”

Harry sighed and nodded sadly. “Unfortunately, yes. That’s right.”

The three of them sat in silence for a few seconds, each thinking about the friends they had lost to the fatal bites of the dead.

Harry broke the quiet with a clearing of his throat. “Ok, ready for the next one?” He asked, looking at Carl.

Carl nodded and his arm tensed in response.

“ _Tergeo_ ”. He muttered.

A tingling sensation began above the wound of Carl’s hand and worked its way downwards towards his fingers. The dust and muck which clung to his skin around the wound, from many the days without a shower started to peel off, as if a siphon was sucking it all up. The wound which was originally caked in clumps of blood eventually looked clean.

“There.” Harry said with a flourish. “All clean and ready for the dittany now.”

He picked up the small vial which lay on the ground, and rolled it in his fingers before looking up at Sophia. “Do you want a go?” He asked with a smile.

The young girl’s face lit up in astonishment. “Me? Really?” The grin which had taken over her features began to slowly disappear, as she started to doubt herself. “But what if I mess it up?” She said hesitantly. “I can’t do magic, and I don’t want his arm to fall off.”

Harry smiled at her fondly, “Some kinds of magic can be done by anybody, even if they aren’t born with it.” He held the dittany out to her. “Nothing will go wrong, I promise you.”

She slowly reached out to take the bottle from his grasp and gasped in delight. “It’s cold!” She cried.

Carl perked up from next to her and reached his fingers out to touch the glass. “How is that possible? It’s the midday sun out here! Everything else is boiling.”

Harry smirked. “Magic.” He said simply.

Sophia glared at him. “Harry, you can’t say that every time!” 

Harry laughed out loud. “I can when it’s the answer. Right!” He clapped his hands to regain the attention of the two youngsters. “Soph, I need you to squeeze the top of the pipette that sits on the top of the bottle, and then release three drops of liquid on the wound.”

“Just three?” Carl asked dubiously, looking to the wound on his hand in doubt.

“It’s more powerful than you think.” Harry said with a smile. He looked at Sophia. “Ready?”

She gave a serious nod and took a deep breath, before unscrewing the lid of the bottle. Very gently, she squeezed the top of the pipette and watched the liquid shoot up into the tube. “Just three drops?” She checked with Harry.

He nodded, watching the proceedings with a careful eye. “Three.”

With a slight tremble of her hand, she hovered the magical liquid over the wound and slowly released the drops, muttering under her breath as she did so. “One drop, two drops, three drops.”

Before their eyes, the dittany began to bubble and heal as it knitted the skin together, leaving a seemingly old scar in its wake.

“Whoa.” Carl breathed. His eyes wide in astonishment, running his other hand over the healed flesh. “That’s amazing.” He looked to Sophia in awe. “Did you see that? It’s like it happened weeks ago!”

She laughed, her eyes shining with happiness. “I saw it! I did that!”

Harry chuckled from beside them as he began to pack the bottle away and place the pouch back around his neck. “You did indeed. You can be my little apprentice from now on if I need help with something.”

Sophia nodded. “Oh yes please, I-”

“And me? Please can I help you too?” Carl interrupted, wincing inwardly as he felt rather than saw the glare which Sophia directed towards him.

“I guess so, seeing as you asked so nicely.” Harry said pointedly as he stood up, brushing the dirt off his trousers.

Carl felt his cheeks up as he looked to the ground. “Sorry.” He mumbled.

Harry paused for a moment, as he considered something. He looked around the camp before crouching down in front of Carl and Sophia.

“Are they still arguing over the firewood?” He asked quietly.

Carl frowned, slightly confused as he looked over to where the two men were bickering regarding the definition of dried firewood … still. “Yeah.” He said slowly.

Harry grinned. “Shall we help them?” He asked, _a little too innocently_ twirling his wand between his fingers.

Carl felt a smile begin to blossom on his face, a look at Sophia proved she had caught on quickly.

They both nodded eagerly.

“Keep watch.” Harry instructed mischievously, still crouched in front of them, hiding his wand.

“ _Incendio_ ” He whispered, and twitched his wand towards the pile of wood which had been dumped on the fire pit between the two arguing _grown_ men.

A yell of surprise met their ears accompanied _whoosh_ of magic as the fire pit suddenly roared alive, burning brightly. The shock of orange flames made those around have to look away to rest their eyes. Which lead to the stares directed to the trio still sitting on the grown looking sheepish.

“Dude!” T-Dog yelled, still a little shaken up. “You could have burnt me!” His eyes wide and he glared at Harry.

Harry shrugged. “Couldn’t do with the two of you bickering anymore.” He waved off the death threats which T-Dog was muttering under his breath.

Daryl just turned away from the fire with a smirk. “At least he got the fire going.” He grumbled under his breath toward the other man.

“Seriously?!” T-Dog complained. “You never said to get _dried_ wood!”

Daryl spun back around, his eyes flashing in annoyance. “Well I don’t _need_ to say it! It’s obvious!”

“Oh I’m sorry _Mr Hunter Man who’s lived in the woods all his life_. But to the rest of us, IT’S NOT OBVIOUS!”

Carl groaned into his hands as he tried to block out the impending return of the argument.

“Well, it stopped them for a minute.” Harry said as he stood up, brushing the dust and muck from his trousers. He winced as he stretched and shook out the pins and needles in his legs. “My work here is done.”

Carl looked up to the black haired man, squinting at the bright sun. “Thanks for, you know.” He said gratefully, gesturing towards his healed appendage. 

Harry smiled down at him. “No problem. But do it again, and I’ll blab to your mum.” He said cheerfully before he strode off towards his tent.

Carl grinned as he watched Harry’s form disappear across the camp, one hand still tracing the freshly healed skin on his other.

Sophia nudged his arm to gain his attention. “Did it hurt?” She asked, looking down at his hand.

He shook his head. “No, felt a bit strange when he took the splinters out but didn’t hurt.”

She hummed as she lost herself in her thoughts for a moment. “Accio.” She murmured under her breath.

Carl frowned and turned his head. “What?”

She shrugged. “He uses strange words doesn’t he. I think he said it’s Latin.” She sighed and doodled on the ground with her nails. “I wish I had magic, life would be so much cooler. I’d be stronger too, no one would be able to push me around and I could protect everyone I care about.”

Carl stayed quiet for a moment as he mulled over her words, he wondered if she had thought of her Dad. He remembered once, when his Mom and Dad thought he was asleep, them talking about Carol’s Husband, Ed. Some of what they said, he didn’t understand. But he wasn’t stupid. He knew Ed hadn’t been a nice man. He had heard the way he had spoken to the women of the camp and the way the men bristled with anger when he did something, _or nothing_ – he remembered Andrea calling him a fat, lazy and pathetic excuse for a man once. He grinned at the thought.

“You don’t have to have magic to be strong.” He said to his friend. “We can learn to protect our family the normal way.”

She smiled in appreciation at his words. “Yeah.” She said softly.

“Although, you gotta admit.” He continued light heartedly, “It would be fun though.” He said with a grin.

She laughed as she lay down on the ground beside him, using her elbows to prop her body up. “Very fun.” She agreed with a giggle.

They both lay there on the ground watching the hustle and bustle of the camp, on a rare day off from sitting in the car on their long tedious journeys. There they remained until the sun eventually disappeared behind the trees and the calls for mealtime dragged them to the seating area around the fire, where they proceeded to fill their tummies with the catch of the day and basked in the comforting laughter and conversation of their friends and loved ones.

 


End file.
